It's not your fault
by NataliaVRogerinaTColabs
Summary: Hey guys! So it's Rogerina and Natalia here! Here's Chapter 1 in Zahra's POV! This is a cross over of many things; The Hunger Games/Embassy Row/Queen/Real life! We hope you guys enjoy this and make sure to leave a comment! Who's ya favourite character and why? Plus; Alexei Volkolv is taken... He's Jasmine's... :) And Freddie is Zahra's.:)


"Jasmine and I are taking you all to where we grew up in Australia!" I say, whipping the tickets out of my pocket. Alexei's blue eyes widen in excitement. There's a kind of awkward silence that follows. I think it was due to Jasmine's hysterical smiling. She was making weird eye contact with each and every one of us.

"So uh…" I say slowly, clasping my hands together, "No one really reacted the way I wanted them to…" To my surprise, everyone bursts out laughing, including Jasmine. I think everyone's just glad Jasmine had her eyes closed for a while, like, '_thank god she can't make any more eye contact!'_ The howls of laughter sprouting from the old garage soon died down into an occasional giggle.

"We will first be going to our homes, meeting out families," Jasmine says, trying not to look excited while Freddie and Alexei shiver, "And then we basically just go on a huge road trip." I finish for her. Victoria, usually silent, raises her hand, her dark eyes focused on what Jasmine is doing.

"Yes?" I urge, eyeing her a bit like Jasmine was before. But less weirdly. She didn't really have to raise her hand because we were friends and she knew she was always allowed to talk over us, but she did. She raised her hand.

"How long are we going for?" She asks, sighing as she says this. She straightens her pony tail and curls her bangs around her thin finger.

"Three Months." I reply. I realize that Jasmine isn't standing next to me anymore. I know she's standing next to Alexei. You don't even have to look to know that she is.

"Three months!? I could meet someone, get married and have kids in three months!" Alexei is muttering under his breath in Russian. I can see Finnick tense slightly. He whispers to Freddie and he nods.

"I think you're exaggerating just a little bit, Tori." I smiled cheekily. She hated the nickname I'd given her, but I used it when she pissed me off. Victoria rolled her eyes again but landed them on Finnick. Jasmine inches closer to Finnick, trying to comfort him.

"Stop it, Vicky Face." Jasmine says. I scoff, but smother it with fake hiccups. Freddie laughs. He knows me. Jasmine coughs, trying to be drastic, and failing, miserably.

"Victoria, if you want to be romantic with someone, it better not be Finnick. He doesn't _care_ about you. No one-"She stops, coughing again. I glare at her, burying my face in Freddie's hair.

"What do you mean _no one cares about me?"_ I thought everyone cared about me." But she doesn't say that like she's about to cry. She says it like it's a challenge. Jasmine smirks. But she doesn't speak. Finnick does.

"That's definitely an over statement. Exaggeration. No. I am not _your _type. That's that." He says, flipping his blonde hair over his tanned skin. I take my face out of Freddie's hair, readjusting it to its former condition. And then messing it up again. And then fixing it. And then messing it up, so on and so forth. Jasmine notices and starts messing up Alexei's. But until she can mess it up again, Alexei ducks. Jasmine falls and lands inches from the ground. Alexei has his arms around her and has thankfully caught her. He laughs, lifting her to her feet and patting her on the back.

"Literally the clumsiest person I know." Finnick murmurs. He runs a hand through his blonde hair, trying to ignore Jasmine's clumsiness.

"Misuse of literally, Nick." Freddie says and sighs. He slumps down and curves weirdly against the couch. I frown, realizing how off track we are.

"Look, now isn't the time to be correcting grammatical inconsistencies. Go. Get packing. We leave this weekend." I say sternly, returning to my business self. I look at Victoria who simply rolls her eyes and sighs loudly. I don't realize I've lost it until I speak again.

"Victoria, would you prefer that you didn't come at all? Would you like to go, instead with no people who care about you for three months while we skydive in Alice Springs? Because honestly, you don't look at all pleased that _I_, for once in my life are doing something nice for you!" I half-yell, fiddling with the zipper on my jacket.

"Calm down." Freddie whispers in my ear. But I don't listen, instead, I continue to yell at Victoria.

"No! I won't calm down when this son of a-'' I stop, turning red in the face, "You're right." I whisper back brushing my shoulder length hair out of my eyes.

"I'm sorry, Victoria." I don't wait for her reaction, instead I head out of the room and sit on the other side of the wall. I gradually press my ear against it trying to listen to the indistinctive chatter on the other side. After talking to Freddie and telling him to leave me alone, he walks back into the other room behind me, and says "She's mad."

"At who!?" Victoria snorts selfishly.

"Herself, Victoria." He says bitterly "She's mad at herself."

"For making _you _feel bad, so if anything, you should be apologising to _her_!" Alexei comments, suddenly.

"Yeah. You were just plain mean to her in the first place." Finnick adds, joining in. I want to go out there and say that she wasn't, that she was a friend to me and that's why she's here now, but Jasmine speaks before I can.

"You know what?" Jasmine yells a little, "She let you into her life, not because she liked you, but because she pitied you! She knows when a bright future is coming for someone," Freddie nodded at this, "and she saw a bright future coming for someone like you. When she first met you, she told me that you were so strong, dealing with the death of your parents and becoming a foster child! You know, it's not even worth it. You're not even worth it." She finishes slowly, marking the end of the discussion.

It's Tuesday. That's all I know. It was meant to be a lovely morning, and an even better afternoon, so we'd gone out shopping. Jasmine bought nothing, saying that she and Alexei would come back for more travel essentials.

"Zahra?" Freddie asks, patting me on the back, I look up at him and cock my head to the side.

"Mmm? I'm still listening." I say. Freddie laughs a little before replying, "No. Seriously. There's a meeting going on downstairs, want to come?" He asks me. I nod, getting up and running down the stairs.

"Is this about our group situations?" I ask sitting down next to Freddie, after he takes a seat. Jasmine shakes her head plainly, banging on the couch.

"No. This meeting is about, not our group situations _or _Victoria, for that matter, but what our trip home will clash with. It's about Alexei." Jasmine says. I nod. It's only a matter of seconds before I hear Victoria sneer.

"Alexei? No one gives a crap, go home, Jasmine!" She scowls. Finnick runs past her and takes his seat on the comfy white couch. I glare at Victoria and growl. I turn back to Freddie and start to whisper.

"I have to go home—," Alexei sputters. He puts his hand on his forehead and shakes his head. I stop talking to Freddie in Persian and turn to face Jasmine and Alexei. They sit face to face on the blue couch, their smiles turned upside down.

"Home? Russia? Why?" Freddie asks in Persian at first, but correcting himself and repeating it in English. Alexei sighs. Jasmine stands up and says, "I need a break." She runs out the room and into the kitchen slamming the door behind her.

"I have to go to Russia instead of Australia with you guys. I have to—," Alexei says, abruptly pausing when we hear a clang from the kitchen. I turn and see a silhouette of Jasmine, running around the kitchen aimlessly, holding what seems like a frying pan.

"You're coming with _us _Alexei. There is no reason, more important than coming with us. You know that—," Finnick says, running a hand through his hair. Alexei's eyes narrow.

"Exactly, buddy! We're your friends, it's going to be fun! Even I've never been to Australia, but it seems fun, that's why _I'm _going!" Freddie adds. I sit there, huddled up in the corner of the couch, listening to the awkward conversation. Alexei's gaze softens a little but doesn't improve.

"I'm only going because I'm going to meet someone, get married and have kids. But yeah you can call it in that way as well." Victoria adds plainly. I giggle a little but cover it with hiccups, again. I think I've set Alexei off, because what comes next, drives Jasmine out of the kitchen.

"What if it was more important than coming to Australia?! Huh? I have family too, and I only came to Britain to study! Jasmine had been my friend since— what— we were eight! So I lived with her for a while before meeting you lot and settling down here! I have decisions to make too, and some of them involve going the wrong way, like _you _allsuggest! My mother only has 7 months to live and if this trip stops _me _from visiting her, then it's all _your _fault!" He yells.

"Oh." Victoria says. Alexei nods, his face usually tanned, now red, flaring with anger. Jasmine's standing behind me, because I can hear her breathing.

"Yes! 'Oh.' Victoria, 'Oh.'" He mimics before grabbing Jasmine's hand and pulling her up the stairs with him.

We're all shaken up, with what happened at the meeting, so we decide to call it a day and get some sleep. But I can't. Sleeping next door to Alexei and Jasmine's room is hard, because I can hear sobbing, probably Jasmine and Alexei's desperate attempts to quieten her.

I know that Freddie's asleep, because he's snoring and he can sleep through a stampede of elephants. At around 2 am I stop listening to Jasmine's crying and decide to go to the bathroom, knowing that I should probably go talk to her about my plan.

I grab the glass that lays on my side table and tip toe quietly into the bathroom, because Jasmine's just fallen asleep. I turn on the tap, but it's shocking how loud it sounds when you're trying to be quiet.

"Alexei?" I can hear Jasmine's whisper. I flinch, and drop, hiding beneath the benchtop. I can hear some shuffling and the noise of something heavy being lifted. I peer out, but it's hard, because the lights aren't on. I see the door open, Jasmine's thin shadow, appearing.

"Come out, come out, where ever you are! I've got a bat and I'm not afraid to use it!" She says. It's loud enough to wake Alexei, but he doesn't. Jasmine's hitting the bat against her hand, swinging back and forth.

"It's me—," I jump out in front of her, but it's a mistake, because Jasmine whacks the bat against my face. I let out a squeal and stumble back. Jasmine stops and flicks on the lights. I reach up, confused, and my fingers come off tinged with blood. "Oww…"

"Oh, it's you? Woah… Sorry, Z" Jasmine says. She reaches out to comfort me, but by this time, Freddie's staring at the two of us.

"Jasmine, what were you thinking?" I ask, infuriated, my cheek swollen.

"I was thinking about how bad the situation was if Lex didn't come to Australia with us.—," There's a long pause, because the answer she's given me, is just plain wrong. "I wasn't thinking! Okay?! I thought you were a— God help me— I thought you were a serial killer! Okay?! A serial killer!" She yells, doing a face-to-palm and sighing. Jasmine is Christian. Catholic, to be precise, so she doesn't use, 'Jesus', instead she uses, 'God help me'.

"A serial killer?" I ask, studying her answer, then rolling my eyes. "Jasmine?" I say softly, because I don't want to hurt her feelings. "What's a _serial killer _gonna do in the bathroom?!" She being immature is nothing new. It's actually normal, but she knows too and she doesn't like it.

"The serial killer needed to pee." I think I want to laugh. I do giggle, but this isn't the first time Jasmine has done something wrong.

"_Jasmine what are you doing?" I ask staring into her computer screen. She moves away abruptly and minimises the tab._

"_Why?" She asks trying to close the MacBook. But I shake my head and smile, leaning over and opening the tab. What pops up, stings my eyes. Why would she search up, 'How to be dirty minded like my friends'?_

"_Jasmine! Why are you searching this up?" I ask, frantically, trying to close the tabs. I fumble with her mouse for a while and manage to close the tab, before Jasmine gets damaged any further. But she sobs._

"_I was trying to be dirty minded, like you!" She claims. I snatch her computer away and narrow my eyes down at her._

"_Not permitted. We like _you _the way you are." I say. Jasmine smiles._

"_OK, then, I want ice-cream!" She yells, running away… _

The memory makes me smile a little, until Freddie interrupts from the doorway, rubbing his eyes. "I mean, Jazzy, you probably hit her real bad, if your wooden bat, _chipped._" Jasmine stands up and places her hands on her hips.

"No, Jasmine, sit down. I don't really care anymore, you just whacked me with a bat, and now you're saying the serial killer wanted to— what—pee?" I question her. Jasmine wants to nod, Jasmine wants to sigh, but she just goes along with the way it's doing, already.

"Jasmine, I honestly believe that I should have let you search 'how to be dirty minded like my friends' up!" I scowl. Alexei steals a look at me and mutters under his breath, in Russian.

"I… I won't. And I'm _sorry_. Okay? I really am, and I mean it. I know I'm stupid and I know that _you _don't like me for it, but that's who I am, as a person. That's _me_." She says. Alexei's eyes follow her from the bed when she walks away..

"Hey, Finnick." He says when Finnick walks into the room. He brushes past Jasmine, but she turns back when she hears Alexei speak.

"What's going on in here?" He asks, rubbing his eyes. His blond hair is nothing but a terrible mess and his eyes are sagging. When he hears no one replying, he tries Jasmine. "Jasmine?" He turns back, "What's going on?"

"I hit Zahra with a cricket bat—," Finnick just looks plain shocked, and it's normal for him. Jasmine and Finnick, a similar pair, but highly different as well.

"She didn't mean to." Alexei says quietly. Jasmine looks across the room to face him and nods. "She thought Zahra was a… serial killer." He adds.

"Besides, we all know she didn't mean it, don't we, Z?" Freddie asks me. I want to shake my head, but I nod, to try and stop the commotion at once.

"And, how are we going to solve the problem? We have to go to Russia, it's the least we can do." Finnick continues, setting his goal off track.

"Why do you even care about it now? There's no point, we can't afford it anyways, so why care? No one, apart from—," Alexei stops shouting and wraps the blanket around him.

"I have a plan." I say, suddenly. I don't expect it at all. I stand up onto the chair, but Jasmine eyes me down.

"I'm sure we _can't _afford the trip, Zahra! There's no point trying! If Alexei says so!" Jasmine yells. She makes her way across the room and takes her seat beside Alexei. He shifts a little and makes space for her, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders.

"_We _can. I am a neuro-surgeon. Jasmine is studying to be a cardiothoracic surgeon. Freddie is a song writer. Really famous. And Alexei works in the national police force. Finnick you're a— you're a really good surfer. You make lots of… Pick up lines!"

"Oh yeah! I forgot! I am an adult now! Yeah! We _can _afford it! Okay! Our plan was that instead of coming back to Britain, we go to Russia, straight afterwards!" Jasmine says.

Okay, so that _wasn't _our plan, but it was a good one. I wanted Alexei to attend his mother's funeral and I wanted him to be there, but Jasmine was right. It was best for _him _to take _us _touring.

"Nice." Finnick says. "I'm for it. Yeah, I'm going back to bed now. It's real late." That's all he says before running a hand swiftly in his knotty hair and walking away.

"We can afford it. Easily. That means I can get a BMW! We go girl!" Jasmine yells. I know she's always wanted a BMW, so it was a mistake to mention the money cause now.

"No… I like the Mercedes..." Freddie says blankly. Alexei hears him and laughs.

"A BMW, is perfect!

"Jasmine…" I say trailing off when Jasmine ignores me. I sigh loudly and stand up ready to leave. Freddie follows me but I can still hear Jasmine from the room

"And now we can shop at Nike, Adidas, Fila— Woah— And Asics!" She continues smiling. "Woah… we can be… popular! Finally!" She yells.

Jasmine and Alexei burst through the door red faced and carrying heaps and heaps of shopping. I cock my head watching Jasmine and Alexei trying to get through the door at the same time. They push and pull, but manage to get stuck there.

"I'll help!" I said, jumping the countertop with ease. Jasmine's frown turns into a smile when she sees me running over. She drops the bags and squeezes out the other end, so that she ends up standing outside. Alexei walks in and gesticulates for Jasmine to follow.

"Thank you! No one wants to move their butts around here!" She says, gesturing to Victoria, who was sitting on the couch with her feet up and her headphones in. Alexei had to jump to get the heavy weight of all the bags up onto the wooden counter-top.

"Hey, Zahra? Where's Freddie?" She asks, standing up and taking her headphones out. I sigh.

"Um, shaving, I think." I respond. When Freddie walks out of the bathroom, clean-faced and looking sharp, her eyes light up.

"Hey bab— I mean—Hey Freddie!" She runs up to Freddie and brushes close to his chest. He flinches back and eyes her nervously.

"What do you want, Vic?" He asks. She rubs closer to him, "What? I can't discuss my lyrics with _you_?" I roll my eyes.

"Don't be too long. You've gotta help, too Mr!" I call in Persian. Freddie nods, before Victoria links arms with him, takes down her hair and pulls her shirt down to fall off her shoulder. She even pulls her shirt up a little so that her jeans show and that she's practically wearing a crop.

I run outside to the car, but not before a sharp movement in Victoria's large window caught my eye. But not before I watched her lean in to kiss Freddie. I dropped the weight of the shopping bags onto the gravel driveway and just watched.

How long until she realised I was watching her. I can't even say how painful it was, because Freddie _has _never kissed _me _before. So, it hurt.

Watching my personal masterpiece being ripped away from me slowly. Freddie leaned back and made a disgusted face at her, saying something. He stood up, rising to his full height and I could tell he was coming outside. He jogged out, his hair looking as fabulous as ever and bouncing as his feet thudded on the ground. He smiled that damn smile of his and went to hug me.

"Don't touch me." I say coldly, looking straight into his almost-black eyes. The colour dropped from his face. I would never say something like that to him on a normal day, but this wasn't a normal day. I reached into my pocket, pulling out the small square of paper I kept with me all the time. It was a note from Freddie from the studio to my house when we were around sixteen. It said 'Love you forever -Fred' I shoved it to his chest.

"Forever, huh? Maybe until Victoria wants to discuss some 'lyrics' with you." He stared at me blankly until he could react. I could feel the tension building and started to wonder where Jasmine and Alexei were.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't want that. She did." He says blankly.

"So I didn't watch you sit there as she tried to kiss you? You've _never _kissed me and now, does it look like I want to kiss _you_?" He glared at the floor, his face glowing red with embarrassment. I watch as Jasmine and Alexei walk out the door to get more of the shopping, when they see us standing there. He was silent for a few moments before I started talking.

"For years and years, I was cautious. And when you told me not to worry, and that you loved me, I believed you. What do I make of that now, Freddie?! Tell me!" I don't wait for an answer. I walk past him, storming through the door.

"Freddie?" I can hear Alexei start to talk to him. "I think you have some explaining to do." He runs a mere hand through his hair before I speak.

"Don't bother with it Alexei." I say, turning around. "It's not worth it. He's not worth it.


End file.
